The United States Social Security offers a large amount of benefits for American citizens. In 2021, more than $1 trillion in financial aid was distributed. This aid reached an average of 65 million American citizens. The most common Social Security benefits are retirement benefits, but there are other types of benefits.
Social Security also provides benefits for children with disabilities or blindness. This benefit is available only to children who meet certain requirements. In order to qualify, the family income must be below a certain benefit level.
So, which children are eligible for social security benefits? Below we will look at what kinds of children with disabilities are eligible for disability or blindness benefits through the U.S. government.
Which children with disabilities can receive Social Security benefits?
The requirements that a child must meet in order to collect a Social Security benefit are twofold:
- Have a significant physical or mental disability.
- The child or the child’s parents (or legal guardians) need financial assistance in order to live.
As to the first requirement, the minor child must have a condition that “severely limits his or her activities”. This condition must last for one year or seriously endanger the minor’s life. In addition to these medical requirements, in the second section, the economic situation is also analyzed.
In the economic situation, all the countable income of the household and the resources it has in its possession are studied. It is important to be able to demonstrate the precarious economic situation in order to be able to access this Social Security assistance. Within this category are excluded the other possible aids that the disabled child receives, such as tax refunds, food stamps, etc.
What do we have to do to apply for this assistance?
There are two ways to apply to Social Security for assistance for a child with a disability or blindness. Either of the two options are valid and very fast. In any case, starting this application only begins, that is, we do not receive the benefit automatically. After starting the application, an SSA representative will call us to begin collecting information.
Through the Social Security on-line portal you can start the process in just ten minutes. On the other hand, you can also do it through a phone call. This option is less recommended, but very useful if we do not know how to use the Internet well. The telephone number is 1-800-772-1213. For deaf or hard of hearing people, you can also make use of TTY with the number 1-800-325-0778.